Automatic lander



AUTOMATIC LANDER Filed Oct. 1, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

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' J. A. NOLAN AUTOMATIC LANDER Filed Oct. 1, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2(72/776! INVENTOR ATTORN EY Patented Sept. 23, 1924.

means we A lesser, s res-we HI AUTOMATIC QILANJDER.

.Appliea t-ion -fi1ed vOctober 1, 195013. Serial No. 665,960.

To all whom it. may concern lBe it known that 'I',-JAMnsA. NoLAN, acitizen ofthe United vStates, residing at Boiwerston, {in the county ofiHarrison and State, of Ohio; have invented new and useful Improvementsjin Aut'oniatic :Landers, of which the following is a. specification.

" This. invention relates to autoinatic {lenders JfOI' use in ,min-inglope-rations.

.One. of the mainobjects of: the invention is to provide landers whichmay be used in conneetionwvitll a: cage of standard construction andwhich are, automatic in their operation. A further object is to providesimple and eilicient means for moving; the lenders into andI;1-l;;Of.1Qp(-31atiVe position, this means being cage-actuated and carcontrolled so that thefapparatusas; a hole, is automatic in itsoperation. \Further objects will pear I from the detail I description.

In the. drawings:

Fig. 1 is atop view of the lenders as applied;

Fig; 2 is a side view; Fig. an enlarged side'view, partly in section, ofthe lander-s and associatedperts;

Fig. .4 isa detail; plan View of the control shaft and associatedparts;

Fig 'oisa section taken substantially on line -5 of Fi'g.=-;3;

Fig. 6 is asectionteken substantially on li11e=-6-.6- of: Fig. 5

Fig. is a ,top plan view-of the lander shaft, operating arm;

Fig. 8 is a top plan View ofthe ,trip lever. My landers are intended tob e-used in connection 'witha'cage C of known construction movableinashaTft-S by known means; pasta landing -L. An approachtrack'A leadsto one side of shafts and a receiving trackR leadsfroln the other "side-,of the shaft. In practice cars are fed down the approach track A ontothe cage G, any suitable or preferred feeding v rnzuas being employedfor I this-purpose; though I, prefer to employ-the feeder diSclOEsed inmy 1U. Sip atent aiorm' 1e car eager dated April I Number Lid-37 945.

'A lender shaft: 1- is I'OGliZtbl-Y n ountedaadiiOth 920, Patentjacen-tto o-necside'of the cage shaft S and 'be'lo-wfthe landing-"L.Landeis 2,615 a known typeareisecured', on this shaft and are normallylpositicnedso as to project intothe path of-tra vel offcage Z-Similarlanders fl are-secured on aisheft'l rlockably mounted'at 1 theotherqside ,of page shaft 6, "the shafts-1 and l being connected by arod 3 which is secured at its ends to arms 4 and 5 secured to shaftsland 1 respectively, arm 4 being directed downwardly and arm 5 beingdirected upwardly. A Weight arm 6 is secured to shaft land a weight 7 issccured on thisgufln, this weight acting to rock shaftgl insuch-direction as to hold lenders Zand'Q in normalor lowered position.

A control shaft 8is rockebly mounted on landing L-and an operating lever9 is loosely mounted onythis'sheft to turn about it. The lever {9includes two spaced arms 10 which are co niliected by Web elements 11and 12, the outer'f ends of these arms being loosely nloullfiedIon.control shaft 8. A ratchetwheeLlB is secured on shaft 8 between arms11;0; oflever 9, thisratchet-wheel serving to prevent movement of thelever longitudinally of the shaft. fRa-tchet-wheel L3 is pro Vided witha nontwardly projecting finger 15 adapted for engagement by shoulder 15"of apawl 16 pivota'jlly mounted at one end at 17, between arms 10of-lever 9. An L- shaped connecting bar 18-is secured in the upperportion of pawl 16, which is provided with a'lbligitudignally extendinggroove for this-purpose. Tljie'outer end of bar connected bypin and slotconnections 19 to affoikQO secured onthe upper end of a trip red 21. Rod21 passes through a slot 22 prowided in the outer; end of a lander shaft operating'ar n23 which is secured at its inner end ,o1,1'lander shaftl. A disc 24; is secured on rod QIhelO ar n 23, and adisc25 directedoppositelyto disc-2a is secured on the trip rjod above a triplever 2,6rockabl-y mounted intermediate its ends 191 a stuh-sln tp orted bearingb'rackfiis 28. --Rod 21 passes through a downwardly tapering slot 29provided in lever Qdanda disc 30 is secured on rod 21 beneath lever 26tolimit :vdownvt'ard movement thereof. A hinged trip fi-ngerQE-Bl ismounted the-inner end of levee-26, this finger proiectin into the pathEef movement of cageC, The finger 31 -connected'to lever in suchmanner-that ethe finge'l will be raised when the cage moves upwardlypast the same and; when the cage ,ino'ves 'idQWnwardly and st-r' sfinger 'lever 26 Will-be rocked so to raise-the outerfiend of thislever. -This arrangement uofo the-fingerfil is similar to that disclosedin my U; S. patent abovereierred to and Ineed'inot be furtherdescribedin detail.

t '27 sup- Arm 23fisconnected by a link 32 to an arm 33 depending fromand rigid with ratchetwheel 13. One of the arms 10 of lever 9 isprovided with an angularly disposed arm 34 which is connected by a link35 to a pin 36 carried by an arm 37 secured on the lower end of a shaft38 which is rockably mounted through a block 39 carried by a plate 40secured to one of the rails a of approach track A. A tension spring 41is secured at one end to a second pin 36 se cured in arm 87 beyond pin36. The other end of spring 41 is secured to a pin 42 which is securedin a block 43 or anchored in any suitable manner. This springis sopositioned that, when shaft 88 is turned a predetermined distance ineither direction, the line of tension of the spring passes be yond thecenter of the shaft so that the spring acts to complete the throw of theshaft and to hold the shaft in rocked adjust ment. This spring;arrangement is similar to that disclosed in my U. S. patent for mine careager dated April 20th 1920, Patent Number 1,837, 944 and need not befurther described in detail. A reset block 44 is secured on the upperend of shaft 38 adjacent to rail a. This block is movable across rail aso as to be displaced inwardly of the rail by the wheel of a cartraveling down the approach track A' onto cage C. An arm 45 is securedto one end of control shaft 8 and a tension spring 46 is secured at oneend to this arm, the other end of this spring being anchored at 47 torail 64. Spring 46 acts to complete the throw of shaft 8 in eitherdirection and to hold this shaft in rocked adjustment, in the samemanner that spring 41 acts to complete the throw of shaft 38.

A contact member 48 is lockably mounted at 50 between arms 10 of lever9, at the inner end thereof. Member 48 is provided with an upper arm 51and a lower arm 52, these arms being oppositely directed. Arm 51 isbroader and heavier than arm 52 and normally rests upon web element 11so as to hold arm 52 in position in the path of movement of cage C. Withthe parts in the positions illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, in which it isassumed that a car has passed from the approach track A onto cage C;when the cage is raised off of the landers it will strike arm 52 ofcontact member 48 and will rock lever 10 about shaft 8 and this shaftwill be turned by means of shoulder 15 of pawl 16 and finger 14 ofratchet-wheel 13, a suf fieient distance to move spring 46 below theaxis of the shaft, after which this spring will act to complete thethrow of the shaft and to hold it in rocked adjustment. This serves, toturn ratchet-wheel 13, which is secured on shaft 8, into its extremeposition in one direction. This turning of the ratchetwheel serves,through arms 83 and 23 and link 32 to rock shaft 1 in such direction asto raise the landers 2 and 2 out of the path of travel of cage C. Duringits upward movement off of the landers cage C is raised slightly abovethe uppermost position of the inner end of lever 9. If the cage, indescending after being raised, should contact with arm 52 of member 48lever 9 would not be operated since this member is free to turn aboutpivot 50 and, after the cage has passed, will be returned to normalposition by the weighted arm 51. As the cage descends and passes beyondthe lenders, it will contact with finger 31 thus rocking lever 26 so asto raise the outer end of this lever into contact with disc 25. Thisraises trip red 21 so as to raise pawl 16 and move shoulder 15 out ofthe path of movement of finger 14 of ratchet-wheel 13. Continued upwardmovement of rod 21 brings disc 24 into contact with the outer end of arm23 raising the outer end of this arm and rockin shaft 1 a sufficientdistance to turn shaft 8, through the medium of link 32 and arm to suchan extent as to bring spring 46 above the axis of this shaft, afterwhich the spring completes the throw of shaft 8 and the landers arereturned to normal or lowered position by means of weight 7supplen'iented by the action of spring 46. During this operation ofreturning shaft 8 to normal or set position, pawl 16 is held raised intoinoperative position. After shaft 8 and con sequently ratchet-wheel 13has been returned to normal position, the cage passes downwardlv out ofcontact with finger 31 thus releasing lever 26 so that trip rod 21 isreturned by gravity to normal position. hen the trip rod is lowered pawl16 is lowered and rests upon the finger l4, shoulder 15 being positionedoutside of or beyond this linger. In this manner the cage is releasedand the landers are moved into inoperative or raised position thuspermitting the cage to pass downwardly in the shaft. the cage acting,after it has passed beyond the landers, to release the landers which arereturned to operative or lowered position.

Upon return of the cage to the landine, L, as the cage travels upwardlyin shaft Q it will contact with finger 31 which will be raised withoutaffecting lever 26. After passing beyond finger 31. the cage willcontact with landers 2 and 2 which will he rocked upwardly and,outwardly a slight distance but will be immediately returned to loweredor operative position after the cage passes by. After the cage haspassed beyond the landers it is then lowered onto the lenders so as tobe supported, thereby as illustrated. lVhen the cage is in position atthe landing L, a car is fed down the approach track A and acts to movethe trip block 44 inwardlv of rail a, it being understood that thisblock was turned so as to extend outwardly across the tread of rail (1,through the medium of arms 34 and 37 and ill) when it'travels past thelanders in one direction for rocking the shaft in lander raisingdirection and for holding the shaft in position to hold said landersraised, means actuated by the cage when it travels past the landers inthe other direction for releasing the shaft and roelring it in landerlowerin direction, and car controlled means for returning the firstmentioned cage actuated means to operative position.

8. In combination with a landing and tracks leading to and from thelanding, a cage movable past the landing and provided with acar-receiving track section, a roclrably mounted lander shaft, landerssecured on said shaft and normally projecting into the path of travel ofthe cage, means tending to rock said shaft in lander lowering direction,a rockably mounted control shaft, an operating lever loosely mounted onsaid control shaft, interengaging members carried by the lever and thecontrol shaft for turning the latter with the former when the lever ismoved in one direction, said lever being provided with a memberprojecting above and into the path of travel of the cage when the leveris in operative position so as to be struck by the cage for moving thelever in said direction when the cage is raised, connections betweensaid shafts for rocking the lander shaft in lander raising directionwhen the control shaft is rocked in said direction and in landerlowering direction when said control shaft is rocked in the otherdirection, means actuated by the cage when it has traveled past thelanders in the other direction for disengaging the member carried by thelever from the member carried by the control shaft and subsequentlyturning the control shaft in lander lowering direction, and carcontrolledmeans for returning the lever to operative position.

9. In combination with a landing and tracks leading to and from thelanding, a cage movable past the landing and provided with acar-receiving track section, landers normally projecting into the pathof travel of the cage, a rockably mounted control shaft, an operatinglever loosely mounted on said shaft, a ratchet-wheel secured on theshaft and provided with an outwardly projecting finger, a pawl carriedby the lever and positioned to engage behind the finger when said leveris in operative position, a member carried by the lever and positionedto be struck by the cage as it travels upwardly past the landers formoving the lever and the control shaft in one direction, connectionsbetween said shaft and the landers for raising the latter when the shaftis moved in said direction and lowering the landers when the shaft isrocked in the other direction, means actuated by the cage as it travelsdownwardly past the landers for disengaging said pawl from said fingerand subsequently rocking the control shaft in lander lowering direction,a reset block on one of the tracks, and connections between said blockand the lever for moving the block into position to be struck by a carwhen the lever is moved out of operative position by the cage, saidconnections acting to return the lever to operative position when theblock is moved by the car into inoperative position.

10. In combination with a landing and tracks leading to and from thelanding. a cage movable past the landing and provided with acar-receiving track section, a lander shaft rockably mounted below thelanding, landers secured on said shaft, means for normally holding theshaft in operative position with the landers lowered and projecting intothe path of travel of the rage, an operating arm secured at one end onthe lander shaft and provided at its other end with a slot, a trip levermounted below the arm and provided in its outer end with a slot, adownwardly acting trip finger at the inner end of the lever andprojecting into the path of travel of the cage, a rockably mountedlander shaft, an operating lever loosely mounted at its outer end on theshaft, a contact member carried by the operating lever at the inner endthereof and projecting above and into the path of travel of said cagewhen said operating lever is in operative position, an outwardlyprojecting arm rigid with and depending from said operating lever, alink connecting said arm and the operating arm, a ratchet wheel cured onthe control shaft, a pawl carried by the operating lever and positionedabove and engaging with said wheel for turning the same 'with the leverwhen the inner end. of said lever is raised by the cage, a trip rodpassing loosely through the slots of the lander shaft arm and the triplever and loosely connected at its upper end to the pawl, an abutmentmember secured on the rod above the trip lever, an abutment membersecured on the rod below the lander shaft arm, said abutment memberbeing so related and positioned that upward movement of the outer end ofthe trip lever will first raise the pawl out of engagement with theratchet wheel and then raise the outer end of the lander shaft lever soas to return both shafts to o erative positions, and car actuated meansor returning the operating lever to operative position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JAMES A. NOLAN.

